For a long time now, I was planning to use the name Protocol Seven as my "band" name, being a direct reference to the anime Lain. Now I found that there is a recent "indie" band out of England called just Protocol.

So, do I have to give up my name, or are they just different enough to not matter?

I have a MySpace account I created to reserve the name, but to be honest, I'm really not married to it just yet. I could entertain some other name possibilities. I just thought that Protocol Seven had a nice ring for a prog-rock band.

And I'm pretty sure there was a seventies-era band that went by the name Protocol. I couldn't find anything on it, though, since this new band is dominating the logical search terms.
_________________Darren Landrum

"Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic." - Dave Barry

As long as it's different it wouldn't matter, the hardest part would be letting your fans know the difference.

If you really want a name though, best to trademark it, then it doesn't matter who's been using it the longest (unless they've TM'd it already).
_________________"There's a big difference between being a man, and being a meathead. A meathead will never do anything. A man will do just enough. " - Dethska

I've decided I'm not going to worry about it for now. I'm still a little ways off from being able to buy a domain and hosting, so I'm going to keep the name for now, and maybe a better one will come along later.

"The Sex Lives of Pirates" is available. _________________Darren Landrum

"Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic." - Dave Barry

AFAIK, (and I don't know anything about trademarking, really), your band name is a business name. No two businesses are allowed to have the same name if they offer a similar product in a similar market.

You can have McDonald's Hardware (as long as you don't use the golden arches logo), but not a McDonald's restaurant, as there surely is another McDonald's restaurant in your area who is selling food.

Similarly, you can have a Bob's corner store in Buffalo, and one in Albany, but because they're not offering a similar product/service in a similar area, then they're both fine.

You can have a band named Protocol in DesMoines, and one in Houston. That is... until one or the other can prove that they are offering a similar product in a similar area.

Case in point.... ages ago, there was a little bookstore called Chapter's in a small town in Ontario called Waterdown. (pop. then around 5 000) A few years later, a chain of bookstores called Chapters opened up. (note the very slight difference in spelling) Well.... that was no problem, because the Chapters chain at first didn't have any stores anywhere near the Chapter's in Waterdown. As Chapters continued to expand and opened up a store in Burlington (about a 10 min drive away from Waterdown), the Chapter's in Waterdown raised a complaint and I think conceded to change their name for an undisclosed price.

Chris
_________________"Nothing or nobody is completely useless. They can always serve as a bad example."

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